NEW ORLEANS – In what seems to have become a weekly tradition, a different women’s team has taken control of the top spot in the Division III National Team Computer Rankings released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Each of the past six weeks have seen a different women’s team at No. 1, with UW-Oshkosh reprising that role for a second time in the past three editions by the narrowest of margins over UW-La Crosse.

As those two continued to trade shifts atop the rankings as they have for each of the past four weeks, two-time defending national outdoor champion No. 3 Wartburg continued to position itself for a potential title defense.

Meanwhile, the defending national champion No. 1 UW-La Crosse men further bolstered their position at No. 1 as the men’s top five remained unchanged.

The UWO women logged a modest four-point improvement to their team rankings score to check in at 195.41, but it was enough to edge past UWL for the No. 1 spot. The Eagles fell to No. 2 with a slight loss of nearly five points to end up at 194.31.

For all intents and purposes, the rankings predict these two squads, based on each squads’ best individual/relay performances from this season’s descending order list, to be virtual equals on the national championship stage.

Women’s Top Five

A clearer picture could emerge next week following the announcement of the accepted entries into the NCAA Championships. The full list of meet participants will be announced by 9 a.m. ET on Sunday, and Monday’s rankings will reflect only student-athletes competing at the NCAA Championships at Ohio Wesleyan in Delaware, Ohio, on May 22-24.

IIAC Champion No. 3 Wartburg (160.43) improved by more than 18 points following its league title, while Wheaton (Mass.) (106.45) and UW-Whitewater (103.73) swapped spots at No. 4 and 5, respectively, to round out the top five.

Men’s Top Five

On the men’s side, UW-La Crosse came in as the heavy favorite with a 20-point improvement to 270.73 – more than 125 points ahead of No. 2 UW-Eau Claire (145.54).

Rounding out the top five in the same positions as last week were No. 3 UW-Oshkosh (136.87), No. 4 North Central (Ill.) (116.34), and No. 5 Mount Union (115.87).

Two of the biggest moves on both the men’s and women’s rankings occurred just outside the top five. The Washington (Mo.) men (93.26) jumped 13 positions to No. 6, while Amherst’s women (84.86) were up 11 spots to the exact same rank on the women’s side.

Moving up the farthest overall were the No. 16 Baldwin Wallace men, who improved 16 positions from last time.

The purpose and methodology of the rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots in the national team race. Rankings points do not equate with NCAA Championships team points. A full description of the rankings can be found here.